Human is Just a Word 73/85
Chapter 73
Of course Sean's declaration that he was eighteen and could do whatever he wanted wasn't the end of the discussion. It was the start.
Helpless Derek could only watch as things escalated in front of him.
At first Sean's parents tried to reason with their son, mixed with accusations directed at Derek and to an extent Isaac. Derek doubted that the Fishers had yet realized what a mating bond meant, but at the moment they weren't listening anyway.
It took only a few minutes for them to start yelling at each other. By now they were standing in the middle of the room, facing each other, and it seemed that they had totally forgotten that they had an audience.
It started with accusing each other to be the reason their son was rebellious and was hanging out with werewolves like they were some kind of gang. In their eyes gang and pack were probably interchangeable, Derek guessed.
Somewhat awkward Derek listened to them arguing and when he glanced over to Stiles, he found his mate at an equal loss. Sean was leaning into Isaac who stood at his side with a stoic face but Derek could tell that his beta didn't like the situation. He flinched at every loud word and was caught between stepping between Sean and his parents to protect his mate and fleeing the room to get away from the family drama.
Over the bond Derek felt the whole extent of his beta's distress and the way Stiles glanced at him, he felt it too.
Derek would have loved to give Isaac an out but he knew that there was no way that he would leave his mate in a situation like this. Sean wouldn't be in any kind of danger but that was not the point, this brought up memories for Isaac.
"Isaac." Derek started nevertheless but Sean was quicker.
"When you're done yelling at each other, I'll be outside." He had to raise his voice to be heard over his mother yelling at his dad.
"This wouldn't have happened if you cared one bit for this family." His mother didn't even notice when her son grabbed his boyfriend's hand and dragged him out of the room.
"And if you had spent some actual time with him instead of going shopping with your friends he wouldn't get fucked by a werewolf." His father countered.
Derek didn't want to be here. He didn't want to listen to this. This was way too personal and he really didn't need to know what Mr Fisher had done wrong four years ago or who had forgotten their anniversary or who's parents they hadn't visited often enough.
"Unbelievable." Stiles said, shaking his head, and the look he shared with Derek was equal parts amused and pure horror. "No wonder he wants to get away so badly."
If the Fishers even heard him, Derek couldn't tell. At the moment they were arguing over who failed more at birthday presents.
Derek was considering to follow Sean's example, grab his mate and leave, when somebody else entered the apartment.
"What's going on here?" John asked in a voice that was used to having the authority. He wasn't a sheriff any longer and he wasn't wearing his uniform or carrying his gun but years of practice didn't just vanish like that. He stood in the door, demanding answers.
To Derek's surprise it went through to the Fishers. They stopped mid-sentence and turned to the new person in the room.
"How are you?" Mr Fisher was the first who found his voice again.
"John Stilinski." He introduced himself. "Stiles' father."
A minute later Derek and Stiles had been kicked out of the apartment and John was talking to the Fishers.
"You think they'll listen to him?" Derek wondered.
"He's been in the same boat." Stiles didn't sound sure either. He scratched the back of his head and gave the now closed door a skeptical glance. "Same boat, rougher waters."
At least Derek didn't have to claim Sean. But he had made him pack without asking his parents first.
"He's eighteen." Stiles knew exactly what was on his mind. "And he and Isaac have shared a bond even before you made him pack. He's been pack for quite a while now."
Stiles slung his arm around his waist and led him up the stairs.
By now the pack was up and ready for breakfast, they were just waiting for Derek and Stiles to join them. And for Erica to make pancakes.
Isaac and Sean sat curled up on the couch with Gina and Jeremy who were determined to cuddle them to death. Jeremy was wedged somewhere in the middle, Derek only saw his feet sticking out of the pile. The children didn't really know what was going on but just like Derek and the rest of the pack they felt that two pack members were upset.
Derek knew that the only reason Isaac wasn't in his fur right now was because he might had to face Sean's parents again but it was possible that he would stay on four legs for the rest of the day once the intruders were gone.
"Why are your parents yelling at you?" Gina asked, arms slung around Sean's chest and head resting on his shoulder.
"Hell if I know." Sean sighed. The curse word drew a giggle out of the kids and Sean couldn't help but smile.
Derek ran a hand over Isaac's head and gave Sean an encouraging smile but let them be for now.
By the time Erica had enough pancakes ready to feed the whole pack, the door opened and John stepped in. Behind him were the Fishers but they stopped in the door, not sure if they were welcomed in the den or not. If he was honest, Derek wasn't sure if they were welcomed either. On one hand they were the parents of a pack member and as that an extension of the pack but on the other hand, they felt like enemies.
"Come in." Stiles made the decision for him. "You have to try Erica's pancakes."
At the sight of the whole pack, and Derek had to admit that ten adults and three teenagers were intimidating, they shied back. For a second it looked like they would bolt but then Mrs Fisher spotted her son with Isaac and the kids on the couch and she set her jaw and walked into the alpha's den.
Derek didn't know what John had told the Fishers but it was enough to bring them here. Both their heart-beats hammered loudly in his ears and every werewolf in the room could hear it as well but nobody commented on it.
On the couch Gina wiggled her way out of the small pack pile and marched over to them.
"Why where you yelling at Sean?" She demanded to know, fists on her hips and a scowl on her face.
For a second everybody stared at her, somewhere behind Derek Stiles tried to keep a straight face, he just knew, but then Mrs Fisher crouched down to get on eye level with Gina.
With that she earned some points at least in Derek's book.
"I wasn't really yelling at Sean." She said with a nervous glance around. She smelled of fear and her heart was rapidly beating in her chest but she managed to sound calm. "I'm just worried."
"You shouldn't yell at him." She said in a serious voice. "You should tell him that you love him."
"Should I?" She asked, clearly amused now.
"Yes." Gina nodded. "Because you could die and then you haven't told him that you love him."
Speechless she gaped at her.
"Sorry." Before Derek could even react, Stiles was there and swept Gina up in his arms. "She recently lost her parents in a fire." He said and then locked eyes with Mr Fisher. "You might have heard about that in the news."
The following silence was deafening.
They were saved by Jeremy demanding pancakes, though.
Things got a little better when they sat down for breakfast. Derek knew how afraid of werewolves Sean had been in the beginning and his parents weren't any different. The Fishers sat between Sean and John, shielded from the rest of the pack. Sean's parents tried their best to play nice and managed to not argue for once and they actually tried to get to know the people their son wanted to live with from now on.
Since John stayed with them, Stiles took a stack of pancakes downstairs to Melissa.
After breakfast Megan took Stacy and the other kids to visit Melissa as well and the adults piled out to not crowd the Fishers farther. Mark even managed to coax Isaac into leaving his mate's side with a question about the renovation and after Derek silently promised to keep an eye on Sean, Isaac left with him.
Now Sean and his parents were quietly talking at one end of the loft while Derek took care of the dishes and pretended to not listen in to them. So far they were actually talking like adults and what he got from Sean with his senses and over the bond told him that Sean had things under control.
For some reason John had stayed with him and was now drying the dishes.
"The pack is growing recently." He said, taking another plate from Derek.
Not sure where this was heading, Derek just kept washing the dishes. They needed a bigger dish washer. But Isaac had already threatened that once he was done with the apartments, which would be soon, Stephen and Megan were in the middle of moving into the first apartment with Stacy and Jeremy, he wanted to take on the loft. A bigger kitchen, a permanent den big enough for the whole pack to sleep in and probably a million other things Derek didn't really want to think about.
"Stiles is waiting for me to become pack as well." John continued.
"You are pack." Derek said and reached for a towel, this didn't sound like a conversation he wanted to have while he was up to his elbows in soapy water. "We haven't formed a bond yet but you are pack."
"I know." John fiddled with the already dry plate in his hands. "Stiles told me that it's only a matter of time until I'll form a bond with you."
"But you don't want to?" Derek guessed. He was thinking of John as pack but not everybody wanted to be pack.
"It's not that." John put the plate away and let out a sigh. "You're family and I want to be pack."
Derek waited him out.
"It's about Melissa." He finally admitted. "She could be pack too, right?"
"Of course." Derek hurried to say. "If she wants to." He wasn't sure about that. She was only slowly getting used to the pack and not once had she initiated contact.
"If I become pack but she isn't there yet …"
"John." Derek took the towel out of his hands. "You would be pack by association. Bonds like that don't just happen. They develop when the person is ready to join the pack. When I claimed Stiles." He paused, raping his son was not what he wanted to discuss with John. "It was an instant bond. Same with my betas, the second I bit them, symbolic or to turn them, we formed a bond. But a bond by association is different."
"What do you mean?" John was listening.
"As long as you're worried what will happen with Melissa if you leave her, you won't form such a bond with me." Derek explained. John would never physically leave her but becoming pack would put a gap between them that could drive them apart, he understood that.
"There will always be a place waiting for you and Melissa in this pack." Derek assured him.
John gave him a grateful smile but before he could say something, Mr Fisher's voice cut him off.
"You're not going to move in with one of these things!"
Chapter 74
Masterpost